The Northumberland parishes most popular for second homes and holiday lets
Data from Northumberland County Council has revealed the parishes most popular with second home owners.
Some areas have well over half of properties with no usual residents.
Unsurprisingly, towns and villages on the county’s stunning coastline dominate the list, with parts of Northumberland National Park also represented.
While tourism is an increasingly important part of the county’s economy, there are also concerns about the impact on local people.
The popular seaside village of Beadnell has the highest percentage of second homes and holiday lets at 64%. This is followed by nearby Bamburgh – famed for its castle – with 57.6%.
Other popular seaside areas include Newton-by-the-Sea (49.7%); Holy Island (48.3%) and Craster (44.8%). There are concerns that the demand for second homes and holiday lets is pricing local people out of owning a home.
According to Rightmove, the average house price in Beadnell is just over £340,000, while in Bamburgh it is a whopping £750,000 over the last year. In comparison, the average for Northumberland as a whole is just £250,000.
It means that despite booming visitor numbers some businesses are struggling due to a lack of staff. In 2023 the Links Hotel in Seahouses – where 35.1% of homes are used as second homes or holiday lets – was bought by the Inn Collection Group to be used as staff accommodation for the Bamburgh Castle Inn – just a few hundred yards away.
Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward, said: “It has its pros and cons. The holiday homes bring people to come and spend money, but the second homes are more of an issue because when they’re empty, they’re empty.
“The biggest problem is they push house prices up and locals can’t afford to buy houses. We have all these businesses and all these tourists but there’s no local staff.
“We’ve had hotels in Seahouses that have had to close because of a lack of staff. If you look at the census data some of the villages’ populations have gone down by hundreds – Seahouses has fallen by around 20%.
“The council is doing what it can – we have doubled council tax on second homes and all new-build homes have to be principal occupancy – but it will take a few years for the results to start to show.”